Orc
Orcs are a humanoid race found on every continent of Fortuna. Said to have been created by the war god Gruumsh, various legends and tribal superstitions exist about the race's origins, yet all of them have been muddied by the passage of time and inaccuracy of record-keeping. Typically a violent and warlike race, orcs are known best for their prodigious birth rates, their hardy constitutions, and their propensity to raid and ravage the countryside. History Age of Dragons(25k AoD - 0 AoD) The orcish race actually originates beyond the boundaries of the world of Fortuna, having been created on several other worlds by the deity Gruumsh in ancient times before being magically brought to the world by the Red Dragon Voltaaridex in the year 24883 AoD. Violent and savage, the orcs were enslaved by Voltaaridex and his followers before being selectively bred and culled to provide a strong, servile work force and, after experimentation with the effects of both fiendish and draconic blood and Blood Magic on their race, a strong and deadly race of dragon-blooded orcish warriors. This latter group actually escaped Fortuna in the year 9983 CA, evading the mad destruction of the Chaos Ages by hiding in the Plane of Fire before their descendants would return to Fortuna as the Flameseeker Tribe. Beyond the experiments of Voltaaridex, members the orcish race would soon be acquired as slaves and thralls by other draconic entities and would find themselves assimilating into different slave populations. With the blessing of their fertility god Luthic, wife of Gruumsh, their numbers would explode on the world and would result both in a number of rebellions and a number of cullings to try and keep them from overwhelming their dragonborn and half-dragon tenders. Inevitably, this furthered the resentment among slave populations that led to the fall of the Age of Dragons, and ensured that every mortal army fighting against the dragons had a sturdy orcish vanguard ready to shed blood - both their own, and that of their enemies. With the detonation of the Spellbombs across the surface of Fortuna and the resulting devastation and annihilation of the world's populations, only small pockets of orcish life survived. Those groups that did survive would garrison ruins and make war on those around them, descending into the chaos and madness that would devastate the world for the next ten thousand years before ultimately succumbing to extinction for almost three millennia. Chaos Ages(10k CA - 0 CA) More to come. Physical Characteristics Orcs, much like humans, can be distinguished from a variety of different racial and ethnic groups, differentiated by skin color, some morphological differences, and distinctive tribal tattoos, piercings, scars, and war paints. Beyond these differences, most orcish men vary in height from just under six feet tall to a few inches over eight feet tall and over four hundred pounds in weight, while most women hover around the seven foot mark and weigh well over two hundred pounds. Typically quite muscular, most orcs are almost entirely carnivorous in diet although they can and will supplement with plants during raids or when food is scarce. Some tribes even engage in cannibalism, both in times of famine and as part of cultural and religious rituals. They are usually of low intelligence, and are marked by heavy brows, short, pig-like noses, and protruding lower jaws with long tusks sometimes as long as six inches. Scholars have noted orcish tusks varying in length based on an individual's standing in their tribe, and have also noted that despite typically having poor hygienic standards and almost no dental hygiene whatsoever, orcs typically have healthy teeth due to their teeth constantly falling out and regenerating and are near-impervious to disease. They age much faster than humans, reaching maturity at the age of ten and becoming ancient and feeble by the age of fifty, though most are killed in tribal conflicts long before that. Orcs have a different musculature than humans or elves, and carry their extra weight in thicker bones, denser and wider muscles, and longer limbs than most other races. Most orcs have black or brown hair, but some few have been shown to have red, bluish, or silver hair as well. Reproductively speaking, orcs are an anomaly among the races due to their connection to the fertility goddess Luthic, who commands her progeny to be fruitful and multiply, thus swelling the hordes of orcish souls both on the Material Plane's many worlds and on the Plane of Acheron in the afterlife. Because of her influence, orcs have been shown to be capable of mating with and producing viable offspring with any humanoid species as well as some giantkin. Orcish blood is dominant when combined with other races, producing very obvious half-orcs, and when a full orc mates with a half-orc is known to produce what is essentially a true orc with few, if any, distinguishing marks from their previous racial heritage. Only rare cases, such as the draconically-bred Flameseeker Tribe, retain any external features due to repeated and vigorous interbreeding. Society and Culture Orcish society differs on each continent of the world, with some pursuing the Gruuman faith and others following their own specific customs, creeds, and beliefs. Those that do worship Gruumsh often do so in differing ways or incorporate various demigods and tribal figures into their mythos, though all of these place the one-eyed God at the center of worship and venerate him above all others. Veskell Brokenfist The Kingdom of Brokenfist, originally the Dwarven city of Mithraband until its sack by orcish forces in 3E 109, rests on the southern border of the human nation of Brighthaven and was contested between the two races until the year 3E 966 when it was taken by orcish forces ruled by the Chaos Eater Tribe, before being overthrown by the Flame-Touched Rebellion led by Queen Magra Flame-Touched in 3E 968. In the ensuing years, Brokenfist has become a stable, if rather uncivil, Kingdom where Gruumsh worship is focused around the lens of honor and strength rather than constant plunder and chaos. Orcs from the various tribes within Brokenfist are consequently smarter, more well-organized, and are typically born into a civilization that favors them above the other monstrous races that the controversial Kingdom fosters, giving them a sense of self-respect and nobility new to the race as a whole. Brokenfist maintains uneasy trade relations with Brighthaven and Magarband, as well as stronger ties to the Empire of Ebonhold to the south. Brokenfist orcs can be found assimilated into the various societies of Veskell, though they meet uncertainty and suspicion everywhere they go, and indeed some individuals live up to these rumors while others try to make their way in a world beyond the understanding of most orcs. Chaos Eater Tribe One of the few tribes to eschew worship of Gruumsh, the Chaos Eaters instead curry favor with the Demon Prince Baphomet, Lord of Beasts, and were consequently one of the most feared tribes in Veskell prior to being driven into the Frontier by the Flame-Touched and losing their leader, Kradok Soul-Eater, as well as their figurehead king Rukh Death-Spear. Known to practice magic that most orcs see as heresy, most Chaos Eaters are warlocks infused with the powers of Baphomet. They are well-known to take captive the women and children of other tribes during raids and, using sinister magics, use them in the cause of breeding insane, crimson-skinned Abyssal orcs and Tannaruks to serve as suicidal shock troopers in their wars. Screaming Wolves Tribe Once inhabiting Brokenfist as allies of the Chaos Eaters, the Screaming Wolves departed the city and made for the north when Magra Flame-Touched made peace with the humans and dwarves to the north, seeing her magnanimity as an act of weakness and betrayal. Screaming Wolves live their lives as hunters and warriors, often raiding small villages and towns atop direwolf mounts and taking slaves and plunder away in war wagons pulled by aurochs or other beasts of burden. Named for their distinctive wolf pelt cloaks, each Screaming Wolves orc must prove themselves at adulthood by going into the wild bare-handed and returning with the pelt of a slain direwolf, which they then fashion into their cloak and wear for the rest of their days. They are well-known for raiding elvish communities in the remnants of Summerwood, and make no distinction in gender when it comes to warfare. Only older women and Priestesses of Luthic remain behind to train the younger generation, while mothers bring their babes into battle with them by strapping them onto their backs or chests as they fight; men rarely live to old age, as most see it as cowardly if one has not died in battle before their hair has finished graying. Earthwarden Tribe Another tribe that does not venerate Gruumsh, the Earthwarden Tribe are one of the few groups of orcs that defy convention by not raiding other humanoid settlements or going to war with other groups. Fiercely territorial and isolationist, the Earthwarden Tribe centers around a village in the mountain known as Shaking Rocks, which they have built around a cave that houses a magical rift to the Plane of Earth. Consequently, these orcs practice Druidism and worship the Titan Grumbar, working to keep the rampant, chaotic energies of the Plane of Earth in check and keep the forces of the chaotic Elemental Prince Ogremoch from emerging and bringing destruction to the surface of Fortuna. Dead Heads Tribe A tribe of violent headhunters, the Dead Heads are a tribe known for the ritual beheading of their enemies, displaying their heads on pikes at sites of raids and conquests and keeping the heads of influential enemies, capable warriors, and enemy chieftans as trophies of war. Infamous as slavers, Dead Heads orcs will often coerce groups of goblinoids, ogres, and even larger creatures such as ettins and hill giants into service and use them to raid other tribes and settlements. Infamously cannibalistic, the Dead Heads orcs paint themselves with slick, greasy body paint that contains hallucinogenic and psychotropic compounds, causing them to fly into insane rages and attack enemies with maddened glee, even to the point of ignoring grievous wounds until the effects of the paint wear off. This paint, known to their tribe as the Tears of Shargaas, the orcish god of shadows and assassinations, is sacred to them and consequently is used in rites of passage, mating rituals, and even tribal disputes as they believe the madness it imbues to be inspired by Shargaas himself, whom most orcish tribes fear but whom the Dead Heads venerate. The tribe is also one of the few to field magic users, and is well-known for their caste of cunning necromancers. Zesh'Sharesh Flameseeker Tribe Descended from orcs bred by the dragon Voltaaridex in the Age of Dragons, these orcs escaped the devastation of their kind by hiding in the Plane of Fire, where they were first enslaved by the various Efreeti and elemental lords before slowly assimilating into the culture of the City of Brass and eventually finding worship in Kossuth, the Titan of Elemental Fire. With his blessing, they escaped back to Fortuna in 2E 160, centered around a labyrinthian cave system at the heart of which existed a rift to the Plane of Fire. Their tribe now dwells there, keeping elementals that would destroy the Material Plane at bay and practicing fire magics and druidism. Flameseeker orcs have crimson skin adorned with patches of scale, ridged, horned eyebrow ridges reminiscent of dragonborn, and clawed hands and feet. They are notably flame resistant, and some few have been known to breathe fire in moments of extreme anger, though this trait seems rather rare. Few Flameseeker orcs grow much hair, usually confined only to the tops of their heads, and none grow facial or body hair of any kind. Disinclined to interbreed with orcs of other tribes or members of other races, they produce half-orcen children with more of a ruddy brown complexion, though these will then breed ordinary half-orcs and eventually breed down to regular orcs if recombined with those of other tribes. Wailing Sky Tribe Ferocious jungle orcs, typically found in hues of green or yellow and adorned with bone piercings and ritual scars across their chests, and little else besides riding garb to protect their legs during flight, the Wailing Sky tribe builds its tribal settlements into the sides of cliffs and upon the floating isles and spires found in the jungles of Szejastrasz. Riding the region's diurnal populations of giant bats, this tribe's warriors have deep bonds with their mounts and typically raise them from birth, as the bats are known in some cases to outlive their masters by two or three decades. If a rider dies, their bat will mourn for a time before rejoining wild populations; if the bat dies, however, it is seen as a deep moral failing on the part of the orc in question and will often result in that individual's exile, enslavement, or suicide. Wailing Sky orcs are notable in that their society is primarily matriarchal, with women allowed and indeed encouraged to mate with multiple males and men confined to raising the young, tending the tribal village, and performing menial labour tasks while their mates perform the sacred hunting, raiding, and religious duties of the tribe. Notably, male orcs and males of other species are often enslaved and kept as property, while the tribe has been known to adopt female orcs it has captured on raids and even incorporate stronger females of other races, though they like most Gruuman orcs have a particular hatred for elves of all stripes and kill them ritualistically when they capture one.